Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary Bites Back at Critics of His Controversial Tweet. 'If You Don't Get It, You Don't Fit the Entrepreneurial Mold.' Many thought Mr. Wonderful's comment over the weekend wasn't so wonderful.

By Jonathan Small

Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary has found himself swimming in shark-infested hot water after making a controversial statement on Twitter over the weekend.

But Mr. Wonderful refuses to back down. On the contrary, he's appeared on various news shows in the past few days, defending his statement and snapping back at his critics.

The brouhaha started on Saturday morning when O'Leary tweeted: "You may lose your wife, you may lose your dog, your mother may hate you. None of those things matter. What matters is that you achieve success and become free. Then you can do whatever you like."

The tweet did not go over well with Twitter users, who found O'Leary's no-holds-barred position lacking compassion and humanity.

A Twitter user named @MasonVersluis tweeted: "Kevin, this is a soulless tweet! Being soulless has brought you massive success, however, you now need to tap into your inner higher self and stop focusing on the money! Hopefully, you know self and have not gotten your brand mixed up with the human!"

@AlexKerner tweeted that O'Leary was too materialistic.

Others took to tweeting adorable pictures of their dogs.

Related: Kevin O'Leary Says This Is the 'Safest Place on Earth' to Keep Your Money After FTX Crypto Crash

O'Leary responds

O'Leary, who never met a controversy he couldn't publicize, took to the airwaves this week to defend his position.

He told CNN that he stands by his tweet "100 percent," arguing that being an entrepreneur takes tremendous sacrifice.

"If you're an entrepreneur, you know exactly what I'm talking about because you need to sacrifice. You have to work 25 hours a day, eight days a week, because your competitors in Mumbai or Shanghai — they want to kick your butt. You have to win when you're young and sacrifice everything so that you achieve freedom for your whole family later in life," he said.

O'Leary blasted his critics as not understanding the nature of entrepreneurship. "If you don't get it, don't worry about it cause you don't fit the entrepreneurial mold," he said. "If you're not ready to work your ass off, you're not an entrepreneur, get over it if that makes you uncomfortable. I couldn't care less."

On Fox News, O'Leary doubled down, saying, "If that statement makes you uncomfortable, you are not an entrepreneur. Don't even try."

Jonathan Small

Entrepreneur Staff

Founder, Strike Fire Productions

Jonathan Small is a bestselling author, journalist, producer, and podcast host. For 25 years, he has worked as a sought-after storyteller for top media companies such as The New York Times, Hearst, Entrepreneur, and Condé Nast. He has held executive roles at Glamour, Fitness, and Entrepreneur and regularly contributes to The New York Times, TV Guide, Cosmo, Details, Maxim, and Good Housekeeping. He is the former “Jake” advice columnist for Glamour magazine and the “Guy Guru” at Cosmo.

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